I *think* that Chris/Ellen Burstyn calls him “Howard” when she’s yelling at him on the phone for missing Regan’s birthday. It’s definitely in the book.

Blatty indicated in interviews that he wanted to scare people into going back to church (esp. lapsed Catholics).

Hi, Jerry,

And Regan’s father’s name is “Howard.”  Deliberate, I assume.

I’ve been teaching the film off and on for almost thirty years (horror class), and if students see the film together in a darkened theater, a lot of it still holds up--esp. the attic scene with the candle.

I wish that people would stop talking about Regan stabbing herself in the vagina with a crucifix as a masturbation scene—it’s not—it’s a mutilation scene.

Rachel,

1995's Citizen X.

good call!  thanks for the reminder.

This is a nice discussion of Reichardt—she is meditative.